Excitement for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was off the charts ahead of its release in March 2016, especially as comic book fans had spent decades waiting to see the two DC Comics icons share the screen.
That would explain its record-breaking opening weekend, but negative reviews from fans and critics alike led to a massive drop the following week. Ultimately, it was deemed something of a box office disappointment, and the response led to Warner Bros. changing course with the DCEU (which is why Suicide Squad went through such huge edits in the months leading up to its release).
Many fans look back at Snyder's time in the DCEU fondly, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a movie with its fair share of positives. Among them was Ben Affleck's Caped Crusader, a version of the character still considered the best big-screen version of the hero by some.
Snyder has just shared a never-before-seen photo of "Batfleck" on Instagram, revealing that this is "one of [his] favorite Batman photos." He added, "I took it with my Leica Monochrom. We built that little set especially for these portraits."
Batman is decked out in his Knightmare gear here. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, an apparent dream sequence saw the Dark Knight in a twisted vision of the future, where the Man of Steel had taken over the world alongside a "Superman" Army.
Bruce was then visited by a future version of The Flash, who attempted to warn him about what was to come. It was a perplexing scene that Snyder intended to further explore in his Justice League movies. The idea there was for Superman to fall under Darkseid's control, with Batman assembling a team of heroes to try and stop the hero-turned-villain.
Eventually, Barry Allen would have raced back in time, helping to avoid Lois Lane's death at Darkseid's hand. However, Batman would have died in her place, making a heroic sacrifice after impregnating Lois (who raises their son with the resurrected Clark Kent).
So, yeah, it was complicated, but Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was the last we saw of the Knightmare timeline until the closing moments of Zack Snyder's Justice League.
With 28% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 63% Audience Score, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice certainly wasn't a critical hit. However, it grossed $874.4 million worldwide and was the DCEU's first attempt at telling a story in an MCU-like shared world.
Check out Snyder's latest Instagram post below.